GearBrake wins $100,000 at Vogt Awards

By Rachel Aretakis – Reporter/social engagement coordinator, Louisville Business First

Nov 20, 2014, 5:38pm ESTUpdatedNov 21, 2014, 10:25am EST

GearBrake, which has developed a universal brake light module to enhance safety, won $100,000 on Thursday as the winner of the 2014 Vogt Invention & Innovation Awards.

The company competed against three other startups that were named Vogt Award finalists in September, when each company received a $20,000 grant.

As part of the finalist award, each startup participated in LaunchIt, a 10-week startup training course, and received mentorship from staff at Greater Louisville Inc.'s EnterpriseCorp and access to the University of Louisville Rapid Protoyping Center, GE's FirstBuild and LVL1 Hackerspace.

The other three companies are:

FreshFry LLC, a restaurant oil management company thats product extends the life of frying oil;

MB Device, which has commercialized a medical device to reduce preterm birth rates;